Keep the participants engaged throughout your event

– Tips to avoid downtime during events

Good flow during an event is an important factor that affects the guests’ satisfaction and the general mood during the event. There will be a need for breaks along the way, but in many cases also a change of scene. Therefore, it is important to have a conscious approach to both the flow between the different elements, frequency of breaks and break entertainment.

Corporate events, internal and external, are something most of us will attend at one time or another during our working lives. It could be in connection with an exciting product launch, a professional conference or maybe even team building. The participants are excited and often have high expectations, but you as the organizer may feel a lot of pressure, especially if it is a larger event. In most cases, larger events will have many different elements in them, but how do you create flow and prevent downtime?

On Arrival

Be sure to invite your guests so that they arrive well in advance of the event itself, but make sure to fill this period with something meaningful. A good reception help set the mood for the rest of the event, so here it is important that you put in a little effort.

In most cases, it will be a good idea to start an event with light serving and mingling. Provide good and atmospheric background music and serve food that can be easily eaten standing up. Depending on the type of event, this can also be a great opportunity to show a video if the reception facilities offers the opportunity to do so. If the purpose of the event is a product launch, you can trigger the curiosity of the participants by showing some teasers.

Breaks

It is important to take enough breaks during the program so that guests can use the bathroom or refill their coffee cups. We highly recommend being strategic when setting up the schedule for the event; combine breaks with necessary change of scene and re-rigging.

For more extensive rigging, you should plan for a longer break with both serving and some entertainment. Keep in mind, however, that the atmosphere during a breakfast meeting will be different from an evening event, so it is important to have the wanted mood and the audience in mind.

Break entertainment

Feel free to invite participants to take part in a quiz as part of the break entertainment, a digital service for online quizzes will usually be the best option. This gives you the opportunity to adapt questions, language and humor, both according to the time of day, the atmosphere you want to create and the participants in general.

Another option could be to hold a survey during the break with the intention of using the results either as an entertaining element, or as part of later stage performances. Such a survey may be used to measure the participants satisfaction so far, or test how much the participants have paid attention during the event. The results can then be presented as a humorous element in a later break, or as an introduction to the next stage element.

Breaks can also be a wonderful opportunity to show a movie. It can be a summary of the past year, flashbacks from a previous event or a humorous video that the participants can relate to themselves or the theme of the event. A movie can also be a simple slideshow of images that scroll across the screen. Maybe you have a good speaker among your employees who can be encouraged to say a few words or give a little speech?

Event and accommodation

You can get many benefits from investing in an event that also includes accommodation for your guests. This creates a good framework for the whole event and can help the participants to be more relaxed and present.

Furthermore, if the accommodation is in connection with the event facilities and dining, this creates several positive effects; you avoid organizing transport during the event in addition to creating a safe environment where participants get more quality time together – also between the various elements of the event.

If you are wondering about to plan an event, you are welcome to download and read our guide via the link below. Happy reading!